TWD: Foldover Pear Torte

I made this week's TWD recipe, Foldover Pear Torte, late last week. But you'll just have to take my word for it, as I have no pictures to share of it, since I forgot to take pictures. It's as if I was baking pear tortes on a random Thursday without some underlying blogging purpose or something! I forgot, just plain forgot, even after my husband (as he's been conditioned to do) asked me on two or three separate occasions if he could eat the torte. You'd think that at least one of those times before granting permission I would have done the whole "do I need anything more from that torte, like a picture?" analysis, but I did not. I told him to eat it, and then it was gone, and I had no pictures to prove that I made it. I'm thinking that might have been divine intervention though, as my torte was not pretty, and it's probably best that anyone who may stumble upon this post be spared the ugly evidence.

I did snap a picture of the pear/apricot/nut mixture, which will hopefully suffice as proof that I made the torte:



This torte has three major components - fruit/nut mixture, a cream/egg custard filling, and pie crust. I've made Dorie's Good for Anything Pie Dough numerous times, and it is fabulous. But I've long been intrigued by the Cook's Illustrated Foolproof Pie Dough, so I decided to try that recipe this time. And I can report that it is indeed foolproof, because never has a pie crust been so abused and mangled yet still managed to bake up so flaky and delicious. I still cringe when I think about what this poor pie crust endured -- after I added the liquid (water/vodka), it was simply drowning. No amount of mixing would incorporate that much liquid (and of course, everyone knows that overmixing pie dough is the death of it, so I faced an impossible dilemma). I finally ended up pouring off the excess liquid, ringing out the dough the best I could, and sticking it in the fridge. I called out to my baking friends who've made this crust before, and nobody could recall having had excess water issues. Once again, I'm making good on my promise to put any recipe writer's claim of foolproofedness to the test. I was shocked, truly and utterly shocked, that the crust ended up being delicious. The process was so traumatic that I will probably stick with Dorie's pie dough from now on; on the other hand, if I could not ruin the Cook's Illustrated crust, I believe that it simply cannot be ruined -- i.e., is foolproof -- and therefore I have to recommend it as an excellent option for any pie crustaphobes out there.

But of course with a dessert like this the crust is simply a vehicle for the torte filling. The recipe calls for a fruit/nut mixture of pears, dried apricots or raisins, and walnuts, topped with a custard filling. Pears tend to be pretty unassertive, especially when baked, but I think they were perfect in this recipe, since the real star here is the custard. It'a made of eggs, sugar, rum, vanilla and almond extracts, butter and cream, and it is simply fabulous. I think Dorie made a great call pairing it with a mild fruit like pear, which will not compete with the custard (that said, I'm very eager to see what other TWD bakers used in this torte!) The dried apricots were kind of distracting to me -- perhaps because I didn't cut them small enough -- and next time I'll be sure to dice them really fine, use golden raisins, or skip the dried fruit altogether.

The result? We thought this torte was great -- definitely a perfect "seasonal transition" dessert, as Dorie describes in her notes. Somehow this one seemed like a whole lot of work to me. I think that was my fault, as I kind of started out unorganized, and in a train-wreck of a kitchen, and then there was the Waterlogged Pie Crust Incident that kind of flustered me out of the gate; and it seemed like there were bowls and knives and zesters and extracts and small kitchen appliances everywhere, etc. I'm not sure how that was any different from any other baking session, but for whatever reason I emerged from this one in need of a {insert nap/massage/drink/break/maid/online shopping session here}.

Cakelaw of Laws of the Kitchen chose this fantastic torte. Cakelaw is an Aussie lawyer with a fun food blog -- you can find the pear torte at her blog right here. Thanks for the great pick, Cakelaw!

TWD: Foldover Pear Torte

TWD: Double Apple Bundt Cake

I'm sure if you gave my husband truth serum he'd tell you that I have a whole host of annoying habits, but the only one I know of that really really bugs him is when I buy myself presents in the month before my birthday. I was trying REALLY hard to be good this year, and was doing so well until Dorie Greenspan's highly-anticipated book, Around My French Table, was released a month earlier than planned. I tried to ignore it -- added it to my Amazon cart and then deleted it, added it again and deleted it -- but in the end my pointer finger was powerless against the Place Order button. Sorry honey. The good news is that as a recreational baker/wannabe photographer/book collector/clothes lover/handbag hoarder, I've got to be right up there in the top 10 Easiest People In The World To Buy For. The other good news is that we won't have to wait until late October to start enjoying regular dinners out of Around My French Table -- I've already made the gourgeres and the roast chicken for les paresseux -- and they were both fabulous. But to make it up to my hubs for violating the sacrosanct "no self-gifting in the 30 days prior to gift-giving occasion" rule, I figured I better bake him a bundt cake.

As luck would have it, this week's TWD recipe is Double Apple Bundt cake, and the timing of this cake is perfect, as we've finally seen a hint of real fall weather around here. I've made this bundt cake before -- I don't remember exactly why or when -- but I do remember it being delicious. I made a full bundt the first time I made it, but this time, I went with a loaf cake and a dozen mini bundts (because my 5 year old was having a friend over, and 5 year old girls appreciate cute food).

The "double" in this double apple bundt refers to shredded apple and apple butter. The cake also calls for a nice assortment of fall spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger), nuts, and raisins. I did not ice it, and served it our favorite way -- in a domed cake stand on the kitchen island with a knife next to it -- and we helped ourselves to slices and/or mini cakes for several days (this one is a good keeper). The cake has a great texture and hearty fall flavors - definitely a perfect fall snack cake. Our little houseguest chose a mini cake over pancakes for Sunday morning breakfast. This was a hit around here for sure.

Lynne of Honey Muffin chose this week's Double Apple Bundt Cake. Be sure to visit her blog for the recipe. Thanks for a great pick, Lynne!

TWD: Tarte Fine

The only thing that has gotten me through the twenty-three (23) days of 90+ degree weather in September has been the appearance of apple desserts on the TWD schedule. I'm a fall/spring lover, winter/summer hater, which means I have never lived in the right place in any of my almost 38 years (Connecticut: winters too long/cold. Alabama: summers too long/hot). But I won't dwell on that, and will instead thank Leslie for picking this week's fabulous recipe, Tarte Fine. I've actually made the tarte fine before, because it's one of those delicious and impressive desserts that is super easy, thanks to the miracle product that is frozen puff pastry.

When I started baking/blogging, I had no idea what frozen puff pastry ("FPP") even was. I remember googling "frozen puff pastry" and printing out a picture of the Pepperidge Farm package so I would know what to look for at the store. And now two years later, not only am I a regular consumer of FPP, but I have brand preferences and everything! I first tried Dufour Pastry Kitchen's all-butter FPP after reading Dorie's recommendation -- she claims that it is so good that she stopped making her own puff pastry. Other accolades: winner of the International Fancy Food Show, and called "The most buttery and flaky pastry you will ever find" by Details Magazine {as an aside, I always thought of Details as more of a "Jessica Alba reviews the iPhone 4" kind of magazine -- but I may be mixing them up with Maxim}.

In any event, this dessert would be wonderful with just about any kind of FPP. Roll out the defrosted FPP, top with lemon juice soaked apples, top with sugar, brush the pastry edge with milk or cream and the apples with an egg wash, and bake. Easy!

My daughter just picked it up and ate it like pizza.

I may not have defrosted my pastry quite long enough, and may not have achieved optimal puffage as a result. No matter, it was still delicious. I served this with David Lebovitz's cinnamon ice cream, my favorite. The cinnamon sticks seeped in my milk for two hours rather than the prescribed one hour, because I never seem to be home for an hour straight. So it was very cinnamony, and so delicious, especially with this scrumptious tarte!

Leslie, thanks for the fabulous fall pick! Please run, don't walk, to Leslie's great blog, Lethally Delicious, for the recipe.

TWD: Cranberry Upside Downer

One of my mother's favorite sayings has always been "everything in moderation." While it induced major eye rolls when I was in high school (but then, what didn't?) something about that message sunk in, because now that I am indisputably an adult, I am extreme in my moderation. I sleep not too much, not too little. I drink a glass or two of wine a week. I will never be a workaholic. I get regular, non-compulsive exercise. I try to eat healthy most of the time, with all of the food groups represented. My midlife crisis car will probably be a Maxima. I have a strong preference for those glorious, moderate seasons, spring and fall (and really want to live somewhere where it is spring and fall all the time -- suggestions?) and tend to get winter/summer fatigue in a hurry. Yup, I am pretty much a moderate by every measure except for Cranberry Upside-Downer consumption, as evidenced by the fact that I ate 90% of this by myself in hourly, 1/8th inch slice increments over the course of a couple of days. And what can I say? -- extreme behavior never tasted so good!

I bought a bunch of cranberries during cranberry season last year, and they've been taking up awkward space in my freezer ever since. I was thrilled to get to use them a little bit earlier than planned; with more room in the freezer and an upside down cake on the counter, everybody wins! This was an easy cake to make. Melt some butter and sugar on the stovetop, mix in walnuts and cranberries, and spread the mixture into an 8" round pan:



Top with batter and bake.

This came out of the pan nicely and made for a festive presentation. I l-l-l-loved this cake! It has the perfect texture, and the tart cranberries and the cinnamon cake make for a heavenly combination. I We treated this as a breakfast/snack cake, but it would totally work as a true dessert with ice cream or whipped cream. David, who luckily got the first slice before I ate the rest of it, noted that while he is not usually a cranberry fan or an upside down cake fan (Really? Who thinks about upside down cakes as a distinct genre of cake, and then forms an opinion about whether to be a fan or not? Apparently my husband does.), he thought the cake was delicious. I have no idea what we are doing for Thanksgiving this year, but if I am anywhere near an oven and willing eaters -- strike that, I don't need the willing eaters; I can handle this baby myself -- I am making this cake.

Sabrina of Superflous chose this Upside Downer, and you can find her post here. Sabrina, awesome pick!

TWD: Espresso Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is have a cup of coffee. If I plan to run that morning, I have the coffee before I run, which I'm sure violates all sorts of fitness rules. It is very important that I have my coffee before I speak to any human beings. My children know that I do not make/find/reach/feed/retrieve/help/turn on/turn off/mediate until I have the first sip of coffee, which has led to some pointed questions about the limits of my rule: "What if someone is bleeding?" "What if there is a fire?" "What if there is a lizard in the house?" I think I've helped them understand that I will rise to the occasion in case of a true emergency {as defined by me}, but that the house default rule is that nearly everything can wait the approximately 3.5 minutes between when I get out of bed and when the first splash of java hits my mouth.

But while coffee is a vitally important element of my morning ritual, it is only a part of my morning ritual. I have one cup in the morning, and then no interest in it -- in fact, kind of an aversion to it -- the rest of the day. Except for that one morning cup that is so essential to my sunny disposition, I rarely drink the stuff. And, more relevant to this week's post {not that I have ever been constrained by relevancy when writing blog posts}, I don't really care for coffee flavored food. So I wasn't sure how I'd like this week's TWD recipe, Espresso Chocolate Shortbread cookies, chosen by Donna of Life's Too Short Not to Eat Dessert First. {Amen!} They sounded interesting though, and I have enjoyed many of Dorie's shortbread recipes, so I was eager to try them.

I just celebrated my two year blogiversary by . . . actually writing a blog post for the first time in two months! It's funny to think about the things that help us mark time. My baby was an infant when I joined TWD two years ago. I would wait for her to go down for her nap, or fall asleep at night, and then start baking {sometimes recruiting my two older children to be my helpers}. Well, these two years in TWD have flown by, as evidenced by the fact that my baby is now a chair climbing, kitchen-aid monitoring, bowl-scraping, rolling pin-wielding helper in her own right:




The dough is made with confectioner's sugar and a tablespoon of espresso powder, in addition to the usual suspects -- lots and lots {and lots} of butter, flour, vanilla. Chocolate chips or chopped chocolate get folded into the dough, and then the {extremely soft} dough gets rolled out in a ziploc bag. It then needs a good stint in the refrigerator in order to be properly cuttable. I let mine stay there overnight. Then cut off the bag, slice the dough into little rectangles, and bake.



The verdict? Well, my older two children would not try these, and my youngest spit it out {which is hardly a reliable commentary about the quality of the cookies - I don't think that espresso cookies are likely to be embraced by the preschool set any time soon}. My husband did not eat these because they contain chocolate. Which leaves me. I like most things that contain copious amounts of butter and sugar, and these cookies are no exception. Will they go down as my favorite cookie ever? No. This may be the first recipe I've baked with confectioner's sugar (as opposed to white or brown) and I'm not sure I cared for the resulting texture {if the texture was in fact sugar-related}. But I think folks who like coffee-flavored desserts will enjoy these immensely, so I'm filing this one away in my "coffee-flavored dessert" arsenal. Thanks for the pick, Donna!

TWD: Crunchy and Custardy Peach Tart

For some reason, baking in the summer is a challenge for me. The kids are out of school and we're running around a lot. It is hotter than Hades here (we're going on 50+ straight days of temperatures near or above 100 degrees). Air conditioning does not work (I mean, it technically works, but I keep waving my hands over the vent to make sure cold air is really coming out -- it is, but is no match for what nature is dishing out). In these circumstances, I sometimes balk at the thought of cranking up the oven for mere recreational purposes. That said, my favorite dessert of all time may very well be the Summer Fruit Gallette, which was covered by TWD right before I joined. So I know that summer baking (baking in the summer and/or the baking of summer fruit) can be so very worth it.

I've had my eye on this tart, to put it mildly. In fact, I initially picked it for my TWD selection when I was up back in June. But then I started fretting that the peaches would not be in prime form in as early as late May, when TWDers would actually be making it. I polled friends who are more familiar with the peach cycle than I am, determined that late May/early June was indeed too early to count on great peaches, and emailed Laurie back with Plan B. Then I prayed that someone with a July or August pick would come through with the Crunchy and Custardy Peach Tart. Thankfully, Rachel did. Rachel, you are my hero.

The tart begins with Dorie's trusty sweet tart dough. Top with peaches, an easy custard, and an almond struesel topping. Try not to burn the almond streusel topping, as I did, but know that even if you do, the tart will still be wonderful. Such is the magic of a Dorie dessert -- it's so otherwordly delicious that a few minor (or major) mistakes can't hurt it!



Thanks for the perfect summer pick, Rachel!